Another input device review? Quite Right… Well here it is, one of the most popular and anticapated keyboards to hit the market in some time- the Eluminx Keyboard by Auravision. At the time of its release this keyboard was light-years ahead of any other keyboard out there, so far a backlit keyboards go. This keyboard was made with a specific sector of computer users in mind, namely, modders, gamers, LAN enthusiasts, and gadget lovers. At a retail price of $99 (USD) its a bit of an investment but prices are falling quickly all of the internet and these kayboard are readily available from many different sources.

Arrival

After a learning we would receive an Eluminx keyboard and consequently waiting three of the longest days of my life, there appeared a large brown box on my doorstep. Inside this box was a bunch of bubble wrap, then the Eluminx box, then more bubble wrap, than a keyboard, then a manual. As expected the keyboard was wrapped very securely and arrived in prefect condition with no signs at all of damage to the keyboard or the manufacturer’s packaging.

Installation

The installation is perhaps one of the best parts of any keyboard purchase — all you have to do is plug it in. I just unplugged my old keyboard — the Zippy WK-888 – and plugged the Eluminx in. The keyboard is PS/2 only though so you’ll have to use the PS/2 port or use a USB adapter, which our keyboard did not include. The keyboard did not include any software, its completely plug and play. And it you were wondering the backlight is powered by the computer
connection, there are not batteries or anything like that.

As soon as I opened the package and observed the Eluminx for the first time I knew that this would be an interesting review. First of all the keyboard is diminutive, measuring a mere 16.5″ (very small for a standard desktop keyboard). Needless to say this is not a
standard desktop keyboard, it is more akin to a large laptop keyboard,
presumable so as to able to LAN gamers. Three more factors make this keyboard very similar to a laptop keyboard. Firstly, the consolidated location of the keys- they are all “smushed together,” as one of our more eloquent reviewers put it.

Basically, though this is a 104-key unit the keys are placed in a way to keep the as close together as possible. As you can see from the pictures this means some things had to happen to the standard layout, namely the F keys are placed adjacent to the numbers, the Delete, Insert, Home, End, Page Up/Down keys have been placed vertically along the right side of the enter and shift keys. Luckily, Eluminx was smart enough to preserve a standard number pad on the rightmost of the keyboard- people rarely look at this part of the board and use it to type numbers in rapidly and accurately as possible, any changes here would have been madness. The only problem with this layout, at least for myself, has been the location of the arrows keys, they are too low and too far to the left, making them much harder to adjust to compared to the rest of the changes.

Secondly this keyboard is so much like the laptop variety because of the feel of the keys. The stroke is very short, but have a good solid feel to them and a nice rebound. Maybe I have spent too much time on my laptop but I must say I do enjoy them. What I don’t enjoy the rattle the keys have. It is not unbearable but each key has a very slight amount of play to it that causes a rattle when it is moved, especially the spacebar

Like I said, this is not that bad but it could definitely be a deterrent from buying this board and seems out of keeping with its otherwise very highly quality. The third factor that reminds me of a laptop keyboard is the lack of a tilt feature. The keyboard is made slightly slanted but that it — there are not flaps on the back that can be lifted or put down to change the tilt, you just to to deal with a nearly flat keyboard.

Well all this doesn’t really matter because chances are you did not buy this keyboard to type faster but because you either want to be able to type better in the dark, impress your friends, or lay video games all night long. (Side point: these three goals are all mutually exclusive, so choose one. If you play video games all night you probably don’t have friends to impress and you surely can type excellently in the dark already The keyboard uses “Electro-luminescent technology” to backlight the nearly transparent keys and is quite bright at night. This is very useful for typing at night, even if you are very good at typing it will keep you safe from the terrible effects of CVS — Computer Vision Syndrome.

The backlight effect is great, but not at all perfect. My biggest problem with the lighting- there is no ON/OFF switch for the lighting. So this means that you have to use it all day, though it is not really noticeable (more than an eery glow that is) and you don’t have a choice about it at night. As the lighting is rated at a life of 60,000 hours this is not a big deal but this feature seems like it would be an obvious choice to include in such a unit. Luckily the keyboard is designed to go into “Sleep mode” after fifteen minutes of inactivity.

This means the backlighting should shut off. I use the term should because ours does not go into sleep mode. I personally find this to be very bothersome and placed a call to Auravision. What could be done? Apparently this is a relatively rare defect, I was informed, that happens on a keyboard to keyboard basis with no solution, but occurs mainly with Dell computers. I assured the tech that I was not using a Dell (the XYZ test computer is being used) and I was told that I could send the keyboard in to Auravision and get a new one free of charge. I kindly refused, reasoning that it happened one, why not the next?

Well, aside from any issues, I have to say that I really like this keyboard. It has a good feel and is in my opinion the best looking keyboard I have ever seen. Honestly, I don’t really care about the backlighting that much, but it is a nice feature to have as I often work on my computer late into the night. Would I recommend it though? I could only do this on a case to case basis. If you are a gamer, or love gadgets, or enjoy the feel of a laptop style keyboard (and you hands are not too large) you would like this keyboard. Everyone else, make sure you try it before you buy it…